Adi Badri Temple is located on the Karanprayag-Ranikhet road
in Chamoli District in Uttarakhand. The belief is that it was the original
abode of Lord Vishnu in Badrinath form before he moved to the present Badrinath
temple. A 3 feet high murti of Bhagavan Vishnu is worshipped in the temple. The
shrine is around 18 km from Karanprayag.
Story of Adi Badri Temple
The popular belief is that Bhagavan Vishnu resided as
Badrinath at Adi Badri Temple in the first three yugas – Satya, Dwapara and Tretya
Yugas. In Kali Yuga, he moved to the present Badrinath Temple.
Another legend has it that in future, the road from
Joshimath to Badrinath Temple will be blocked by a mountain. When this will happen
the murti of Vishnu will be shifted to Adi Badri again.
It is also believed that Bhagavad Gita was composed by Sage
Vyasa here taking direct lessons from Vishnu.
There are total sixteen temples cramped into a small space (12.5
meters X 25 meters). The most important among them is the Adi Badri temple. The
murtis in the temples were installed by Adi Shankaracharya and the temples were
built during the late Gupta period (between .
Adi Badri is part of the Panch Badri Temples – five temples
dedicated to Badrinath. They are Adi Badri, Vishal Badri, Yog-Dhyan Badri,
Vriddha Badri and Bhavishya Badri. All these temples are located nearby.
There is a belief that when Kali Yuga ends, Badrinath will
shift to Bhavishya Badri.
Lake Benital is located above the temple.
नौठा कौथिग मेला (Nauta Kouthing Mela)
On the first Monday of Jyeshta month, as per traditional
Hindu lunar calendar followed in North India, bhog (Prasad or holy food) is
prepared using freshly harvested rice. The bhog is prepared by all the villages
in the vicinity.
Earlier, villages used to conduct fight to decide as to who
should make the annual offering. This has now been stopped, now only a mock
fight takes place, and the entire villages make the offering together.